Diabetes Advocates Day

On Saturday, I was invited to be a part of Medtronic’s inaugural Diabetes Advocates Day. The event brought together a small group of advocates from around Australia at Medtronic HQ in Melbourne. Some of the advocates in attendance were familiar faces, while I briefly met others for the first time.

The day began with a coffee stain on my nice shirt and Chinos, as I discovered that my cappuccino had two lids placed on it!

On the subject of book recommendations, I got to muse at the amount of times I get ridiculed at home for picking up a new book and not finishing it! (Yet I call myself a writer…)

Despite all of the creative minds in the room, the best hashtag we could come up with was #dAdvocatesAU, not to be confused with all the Dadvocates out there!

Going into this event, I was half expecting a big announcement. I knew full well that Medtronic’s hybrid closed loop system – an insulin pump that automatically regulates basal insulin based on CGM readings – is being rolled out in the US later this year. Although there was no announcement of the sort, we did get to hear about research currently underway with these systems from endocrinologist David O’Neal.

We were shown research participant graphs of several nights where different foods were consumed, and how effectively the hybrid system was able to regulate blood sugar levels.

There were a few reactions in the room at one of the graphs, where a patient drank a glass of juice without giving any insulin for it. This triggered a very insightful discussion about placing our trust in the technology. There were advocates in the room who expressed that they felt the most comfortable and in control with multiple daily injections. Many of us couldn’t imagine not treating a hypo, and letting the pump suspend insulin delivery to stop glucose levels from falling below target. As technology advances, those of us using it will ultimately have to move past years of training we have received from diabetes healthcare professionals, as well as our own habits and tricks that work for us.

The most engaging part of the session was hearing from Eduardo Chavez, Medtronic’s Market Development Consultant. He expressed that technology is not able to adjust to real life. Our food, our sleep, and the activities we undertake during the day are often spontaneous and vary each day. That’s where the concept of Sugar IQ comes in. Sugar IQ is a real time, personalised and actionable mobile assistant in development from Medtronic. The underlying idea of this app was to make daily management tasks easier, and with less effort from the user.

Logging data is tiresome. If I’m going to log carbohydrates, insulin doses, and blood sugar readings, there has to be a clear benefit for me. While the app analysed CGM data and highlighted trends or patterns to the user, I felt that it didn’t go as far as giving the user actionable suggestions. I know that there are a lot of regulations around mobile applications giving medical advice, but many of us pointed out that it was unrealistic for the user to be able to get in touch with their healthcare professional every time the app suggested so. I also felt that the app would have been more effective if it were compatible with a wider array of pumps, meters and CGM systems. It will be interesting to see how our discussion influences the development of Sugar IQ going forward.

After breaking up for some brief group activities, the day ended with a GoPro group selfie. It was a jam packed day full of stimulating and insightful discussion. I guess my only disappointment was the lack of time to network with the other advocates in attendance. Big thanks to Medtronic Diabetes for inviting me to be a part of this event, and be sure to check out the hashtag #dAdvocatesAU on Twitter to view the discussion from others in attendance.

Disclosure: Medtronic Diabetes Australia covered my travel expenses to attend Diabetes Advocates Day on Saturday. They also put me up in a hotel on Friday evening and provided morning tea and lunch at the event. I stayed in Melbourne for 3 additional nights at my own expense. There was no expectation that I would blog about the event, and all thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own!

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2 Comments

Good summary of the day Frank, I agree there wasn’t enough networking time-pretty exhausting actually as so much time was taken up with travelling. It was good that Medtronic were consulting with us about what sort of D products we would like before they go ahead and make them.